Stepan - SCL Stock Forecast, Price & News

Stepan Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells specialty and intermediate chemicals to other manufacturers for use in various end products. It operates through three segments: Surfactants, Polymers, and Specialty Products. The Surfactants segment offers surfactants that are used as principal ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning products, including detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, and floors and walls, as well as shampoos and body washes; and other applications, such as fabric softeners, germicidal quaternary compounds, disinfectants, and lubricating ingredients. Its surfactants are also used in various applications, including emulsifiers for spreading agricultural products; and industrial applications comprising latex systems, plastics, and composites. The Polymers segment provides polyurethane polyols that are used in the manufacture of rigid foam for thermal insulation in the construction industry, as well as a base raw material for coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers (CASE); polyester resins, including liquid and powdered products, which are used in CASE applications; and phthalic anhydride that is used in unsaturated polyester resins, alkyd resins, and plasticizers for applications in construction materials, as well as components of automotive, boating, and other consumer products. The Specialty Products segment offers flavors, emulsifiers, and solubilizers for use in food, flavoring, nutritional supplement, and pharmaceutical applications. It serves in the United States, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, and internationally. Stepan Company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Stepan from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Monday, June 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Stepan from $147.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Friday, July 29th.

Stepan Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:SCL opened at $113.07 on Friday. Stepan has a one year low of $95.03 and a one year high of $129.35. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.90 and a 200-day moving average of $103.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $751.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $692.40 million. Stepan had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 13.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stepan will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 31st will be paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 30th. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stepan news, COO Scott R. Behrens sold 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.24, for a total value of $60,082.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,100 shares in the company, valued at $1,431,044. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Scott R. Behrens sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.24, for a total transaction of $60,082.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 13,100 shares in the company, valued at $1,431,044. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luis Rojo sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.17, for a total transaction of $46,068.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 3,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,836.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.